Combined condiment container



May 3, 1949.

Filed Nov. 25, 1947 M. A. GARRIS 2,469,034

COMBINED CONDIMEN'I' CONTAINER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Zhwentor attorney MARIAN A. GARR y 3, 1949. D M. A. GARRIS 2,469,034

COMBINED CONDIMENT CONTAINER Filed Nov. 25, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG-6 MARIAN A. GARRIS 3maentor Patented May 3, 1949 GQMBINED': GDNDIMENT; GONTAWEE.

MarianA; ,Gitrris; SbattlQ Waslf.

Application. November: 25, 1941',- SeriatNoo 7881003; aoiaimsl (01.1. 65-45) My, presentsinvention; relates toithe, general artiof Icondiment containers. and more-particua larly, to a combined condiment container.

In modern-home.design.great :stress isaplaced on having J the kitchen, a. handygace imwh-ich tocvizork.- Thiswis based upon the premise that the. average housewife can expect :toe-be :less. and; less. dependent. upon domesticrhelprand f=1l t i$i reason, the modern kitchen has greatly-increased; in, expense until itibecomes onerotthemaiori xpense. units ,in modern homeiconstruction. It is with this general back round-inmind that 1 L have produced my present. multiple condiments container, so that the housewife, instead of reach ing for, several different. condiment v containers, using them, and replacing them afterwsuchuse, can now group,v in a single. unit, ,sayvfour; the mostlcommonly used. condiments ,andehavel them-1 immediately available in alsin le uni-ti Many devices endeavoring, to servethispurpose have beenoffered in the past. Howeven it was. not until the general acceptance of'plastic mate-. rials for such devices that adesignwhich appears; to overcome all the past; deficienciesacouldme produced. In the. past, itv was. generally 1 con-.

-ceded"that to. have more than tworcondimentsi in" a single container presented manyproblems such as the interminglingofthe condimentsand the-difficulty of cleaning th'el container; aiter cprolonged-periods of use. In mypresent'construction; I b'elieve'I have produced a unitthat can, be used practically for-four; ormore, separate condiments, insuringthat'each will be kept sepae rateofrom the others at alltimes; yehthe-unit is also 1 arranged that it can be completely dis= assemb'led 'and I asinglelarge interior-- presented? which is readilyavailable ,for thorough-cleaning; and\al1-.:the;parts, suchas the separator; sitter; and thelike, coming out assepa-rataunits admit of most easy cleaning;

The.;princip al object of my present:imlention, therefore, is to: provide. a;cndiment-r container which {can be -used A practically; for four; or,more;. sel l rateecondiments.

assembled and. tatsooprotectpthe. Wearing. parts; that it can. be expected. to, give-:satsifactory, use oven long: periods.

Further objects, advantages and capabilities:

5 be apparent ,from. thedescription and disclosure in ithe drawingsor maybe comprehended or areinherent .intheadeviceo Inthe. drawings-z Fig. 1 is a topplair-view of a multi-celled condiel0 ment container made aftemtheteachings ofwmyr present invention;

Fig; 2v is aevertical visectional-view taken; along. the lineal-2 01 Rig l.

Fig; 34s fem-bracketed exp o v how net ev various; elementsumaking up--my condiment COB-rtakenmalong the liDEq-T-J of. thetop, assembly-,-

Fig. 8 is.- afragmenta-ry. cross-sectional view:- taken along:1inei.8--8 ofnFig aand Fig. 6.

Ref erring: more particularly to the disclosure inithedrawing-S the-mumeral, l0 designates the main vbody .or container fora-a-v simple form of my. unit. This, ,asalflhaveeshown: in l thedrawings, may be cylindricaliniorm, or other outside con-- figiirations.rnay; besemployed-to give a clover-a desirable outside appearances; It i is, however, desirable that the thickness of material from the standpointof economicalmolding from plasticsa willlbeof substantially unitormzthickness. Body;

lofi'is provided with aarraised bottompor floor-pon-= tion 12. Thisvrfeatureinormally causes the can-- nister tosetlon ets-working surface easier, and, it also provides spaeeeforian= assembling screw as l4, which screw-iLprefer: toform with the? Alfurther :objectmof. my invention is ;to'-;providee-= son-called. coin-slot, so :thatdt can ,be turned, as;

meanswhereby the various condiments be readily inspected sothat a sup ly will always :bei onhand. This is achieved by havinestransparents material for the cannister.

instartingandseating withthe aidof a coin,

Th8.:interiOr,OfbDdY1 lfl isidivided into three" oamore ,divisions. (in any; drawi '1 l h ve shownfour) by the removable mu1ti=partition member:-

Av further object oilmypresentsmventionalia l6.,, Thismem-ber-is prov f W s toprotlide a multi-celledcontainer for condiments "a which can be easily dis-assembledzfor thorough" cleanin A ,further. object of .mvinvention. isutouproyideh. means wherebymy containerlcanlbel, readily dis-r one for each cell desired.- The various walls are: joined together by central core member 20.01; increased tliicknesm sowas-w to. give strength and to-:provide\-,adeqi;1ate smaterial; for the insertion;

oi zmfildedrin' memo bushingemembers as :221 and;

member [0.

23, which are interiorly threaded and, by the molding process, are fixedly secured within member 16. Attention is invited to Fig. 4 in which it is indicated that the corners where the junction between walls I8 and the central portion 20 occur are provided with fillets of considerable radius as 25, so as to avoid any sharp corners that would be difficult to clean.

In order to provide definite security against the intermingling of various condiments that might be stored in adjacent cells of my container, I provide that the inner surface of the body ll! be provided with grooves, as 21, in the side walls and similar grooves. as 28, in the bottom of These I prefer to form after the showing of Figs. 2 and 4, by raising the material of body it! adjacent the grooved portion so that no point of weakness is provided where these grooves occur, but rather that the material is a little thicker at these points, so that the sharp corners required will'not promote natural lines of breakage. This same grooving accepts the fillet as illustrated at 2?, and is also shown in Fig. 2 at 30.

As a cover for my container, I provide the cover plate member 32. This, in the form shown, is circular. However, if the body it! were to be made in a cloverleaf design, or any other configuration other than cylindrical, this plate should conform to such form. To provide proper seating of plate 32, I provide the rabbet at 34, so that a portion of plate 32 fits down inside the bore of container Ill and a portion of it rests on top of the same. This construction is best illustrated in Fig. 2. This provides a seal in two directions, which practically precludes any leakage at this point. The inner surface or lower surface, as viewed in Fig. 2, is in turn provided with grooves to accommodate member [8. This grooving is shown in elevation only by the raised groove-forming ridges at 36.

Plate 32 serves a second function other than merely as a cover for the container, in that it is also the sifter head and for this purpose a plurality of discharge openings 38 are provided, preferably in some geometrical pattern, such as, for instance, a circle as indicated in Fig. 1. The exact form of this pattern is immaterial, providing it is the same for each of the compartments of the container. Further, it may be desirable to have the holes 38 proportioned as to diameter and possible flare, according to the type of condiment that is going to be used in the container. In any event, the group of holes should be substantially centrally located above the compartment they are to serve.

Superposed upon plate 32 is a selector plate 40. This plate is provided with a plane bottom surface so that it will rest in snug engagement with the' top plane surface of plate 32. At one point in its area, the plate 49, however, is provided with an opening 52 suflicient in extent to encompass any one group of discharge holes. In the drawing I have shown this opening as round. On the upper surface of plate 48 I provide a finger engageable boss or lug 34, so as to provide for the easy movement of plate Ml, and to thus make it possible to hold the container with one hand and with a f nger or thumb of that hand operating the top plate, so that the housewife can select the condiment discharge opening she wishes to use.

As my container is assembled, the first operation is to insert separator l6 within grooves 21 and press the same down to the bottom where grooves 28 are engaged. The next operation is to place the holding screw I4 in position, thus fixedly securing the separator within body "I. This is the form of my device when it is charged with condiments or when replenishing of one or two of the condiments is necessary. Next in the order of assembly is to put plate 32 in place by turning it until the upper edges of member l6 engage into the grooves formed on the lower surface of plate 32. When this is achieved, the plate can be pressed fully home so that it forms a tight seal with the upper part of body Ill. The next member to go in place is the selector plate 40 and then, finally, the securing screw 45. This screw, passing as it does through plate 4|] and plate 32 into the threaded bushing member 22, which in manufacture has been molded into member I6, provides a secure final assembly, and the tension placed by screw 45 on the assembly will determine the amount of friction between plates 49 and 32 and this should be adjusted to the convenience of the housewife using the device.

In Figs. 5 and 6 I have illustrated a preferred form of my container in which the general cylindrical form is made up of a plurality of semicylindrical portions 50 which are joined by arouate bead members 52. All other parts of my unit are similar to the simplified form described. It has been found that this clover-leaf form is easier to hold in the hand, and the various condiment chambers are more easily identified and can thus be more readily held in the most satisfactory position for use.

It will now be apparent, it is believed, that the various condiments are all readily available for use but are so thoroughly separated from each other that there can be no intermingling of the same. Further, it will be apparent that, by a reversal of the assembly operation, the whole device can be dis-assembled to the components shown in Fig. 3, at which time each of these components can be readily cleaned.

It is believed that it will be clearly apparent from the above description and disclosure in the drawings that the invention comprehends a novel construction of a combined condiment container.

Having thus disclosed the invention, I claim:-

1. A combined condiment container, consisting of: a body of substantially cylindrical form; a bottom for said body formed as part thereof, and raised above the lower end of said body; a partition member having a central core and a plurality of partition walls extending radially therefrom and adapted to form a plurality of chambers; enlarged fillets connecting said walls and said core; ridges formed on the interior of said body, in which are parallel walled grooves adapted to closely engage the outer edges of said partition walls; ridges formed on the upper surface of said bottom having parallel walled grooves adapted' to closely engage the bottom edges of said partition walls; a cover plate adapted to seat within said body and to overlap the upper edge thereof; a plurality of groups of discharge holes formed in said cover plate; ridges on the under side of said cover plate, having parallel walled grooves adapted to closely engage the upper edges of said partition walls and to thus angularly position said groups of holes centrally over said chambers; a selector plate disposed upon said cover plate and adapted to revolve concentrically therewith; a discharge opening formed in said selector plate and adapted to selectively engage a desired group of discharge holes and to close off the remaining groups of discharge holes; means for securing said partition member in said body; means for securing said cover plate to said partition member and in close engagement with said body and means for securing said selector plate revolvably, in close engagement with said cover plate.

2. A combined condiment container formed of molded material, consisting of: a body of substantially cylindrical form; a bottom for said body formed as part thereof, and raised above the lower end of said body; a partition member having a central core and a plurality of partition walls extending radially therefrom and adapted to form a plurality of chambers; enlarged fillets connecting said walls and said core; ridges formed on the interior of said body, in which are grooves adapted to closely engage the outer edges of said partition walls; ridges formed on the upper surface of said bottom having grooves adapted to closely engage the bottom edges of said partition walls; a cover plate adapted to seat within said body and to overlap the upper edge thereof; a plurality of groups of discharge holes formed in said cover plate; ridges on the under side of said cover plate adapted to closely engage the upper edges of said partition Walls and to thus angularly position said groups of holes centrally over said chambers; a selector plate disposed upon said cover plate and adapted to revolve concentrically therewith; a discharge opening formed in said selector plate and adapted to selectively engage a desired group of discharge holes and to close ofi the remaining groups of discharge holes; an interiorly threaded bushing secured in each end of said partition member core; a screw passing through the bottom of said container for securing said partition member in said body; a screw passing through said cover plate for securing said cover plate to said partition member and in close engagement with said body and means for securing said selector plate revolvably, in close engagement with said cover plate.

MARIAN A. GARRIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 225,143 Kahler Mar. 2, 1880 880,082 Kendrick Feb. 25, 1908 1,208,189 Miller Dec. 12, 1916 1,339,173 Douledes May 4, 1920 1,602,745 Binkele Oct. 12, 1926 1,715,754 Harris June 4, 1929 1,801,241 Styx Apr. 14, 1931 1,925,962 Hoyer Sept. 5, 1933 1,979,198 Hart Oct. 30, 1934 2,000,818 Bomberger May 7, 1935 2,173,542 Simington Sept. 19, 1939 2,241,044 Stenberg May 6, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 79,958 Sweden Mar. 27, 1934 

